Animal carers from Burnham-On-Sea were shocked to discover more than 100 bodies of dead animals floating in a local river on Friday morning (August 20th).
Volunteers from Secret World were called to Cripps River, where they made the grim find between Bason Bridge and Huntspill Moor in East Huntspill.
“A member of the public had stopped along the road to break their journey, only to find a cage with ferrets in, a young kitten running around and over 40 bodies of ducks and chickens plus plastic bags floating in the water,” Secret World’s Pauline Kidner told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
Pauline caught one ferret which was extremely thin and also took away a further five animals, which were in a cage on top of the bodies of several hens and a cat.
With help, the kitten was also caught when the Environment Agency arrived to assist the Secret World team.
Pauline added: “Using grappling hooks, the dead bodies were retrieved and the plastic bags in the water contained further bodies of chickens and ducks. The condition of the animals was very poor and the opinion is that they had died from starvation.”
“In all, it is suspected that over 100 dead animals had been dumped. They were mainly ducks and chickens, but also an adult cat. Thankfully, the ferrets and the kitten were still alive.”
She appealed for anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area during the past 24 hours to contact Secret World on 01278 783250.
“It maybe that someone may know of a house where animals have been seen, where they are no longer there. Any information on this cruel act could be useful in finding the person responsible for such callous actions,” added Pauline.
Burnham-On-Sea police have also been alerted about the discovery and are also investigating the case.
